Political loyalty illustrated

Right now the Democrats, as well as the media, are on overdrive trying to get some resolution from the FBI email story.  In addition to the expected turn of support for James Comey, in which former detractors are now his biggest fans, and those who declared him the man of the year are saying  he’s now violated ethics and should resign, we have the attempt to run after every possible distraction by the press.   Polls are crucial here, and the initial polling after the FBI letter suggests the emails won’t make a major difference.  I can sort of understand.  After all, the FBI letter may end up being nothing at all.  Remember, Hillary is innocent until proven guilty.  And if something proves she’s guilty after the election?  Then we have President Kaine.

This piece at CBS suggests that, at least initially, there won’t be much of an electoral shift, apart from the tightening of the polls that had already happened over the previous week.   Most of the results make sense.  Republicans are more skeptical, Democrats more forgiving.  Yet one thing caught my eye.  According to the CBS Battleground Tracker, 13% of Democrats say that the FBI letter makes them more likely to support Hillary.  That I don’t get.

I get not letting it change your opinion of her.  And yes, I get thinking it could make her look bad.  But saying that because of this particular turn of events, I’m now more likely to support her than ever before?  Sorry, but that seems to be the sort of blind partisan loyalty that Trump is supposed to enjoy.  In fact, I don’t remember many polls saying that because of all the revelations and accusations, Trump’s supporters would be more likely to support him. If anything, it caused the wary to abandon him.  I couldn’t find a single poll  that said the accusations against Trump made people more likely to support him. They might support him despite the accusations or because they believe the accusations to be false, but not that the accusations themselves made people more likely to support him.  Perhaps they’re out there, I didn’t find them.

But this one says so.  This one has a whopping 13% of Democrats more likely to support Clinton, precisely because of this new turn of events and because of the FBI letter.  I think that this is the sort of thing, as much as any issue or topic under discussion, that the Bishops and the general leadership of the Church warn against.  A sort of ‘I’m for this team no matter what’ attitude.  The idea that something that could, even remotely, suggest wrongdoing and my first reaction is to hunker down and double my support?  I’m sure it’s not confined to one side of the political aisle, but it certainly isn’t absent in this poll.